Holiday beers spread cheer, make cash registers ring

Hard to believe we’ve already had five rounds of Camp Beer. But there we were at the Oddfellows Lodge last Sunday for a tasting with a holiday theme, “Holy Beer Night,” and a 20-brew lineup to match.

Most of what was being poured were Christmas beers, from Avery Old Jubilation to Hoppin Frog’s Frosty Frog Christmas Ale to a pair of Santa’s Little Helpers, one from Port and the other from Mikkeller. Local brewer Saint Arnold was there with a Christmas Ale (and Divine Reserve Nos. 2 and 9).

The five offerings from Lost Abbey were a treat as well. Real Ale was on the tasting list for the first time, with its winter seasonal Coffee Porter. And there was a Stone Sawyer’s Triple, an occasional beer that benefits ALD research in memory of a Stone employee’s late son who had the disease.

As always, I enjoyed all of the beers, the company and the expert presentation by Kevin Floyd. According to my notes, the show-stealers were Lost Abbey Avant Garde and the Hoppin Frog, which was well described as “pumpkin pie in a glass.”

Also well represented were Great Lakes, AleSmith and Southern Tier. And of course — this being a Cathy Clark event — there was a strong-showing beer from 3 Floyds — this time the Arctic Panzer Wolf.

The topic of Christmas beers stirred a good deal of interest in this space last week.

And it turns out that we’re not the only ones infatuated with seasonals. If you saw my story in the 29-95 entertainment guide today (page F33), you know that sales of special, limited-release beers are making up a larger percentage of sales for craft breweries:

Recent U.S. supermarket sales figures show that special-release seasonal beers like these have become the most popular craft style, accounting for a combined 17.5 percent of dollar sales in stores. And the biggest sales spike for seasonal beers occurs during the year-end holidays, the analysis by Symphony IRI Group says.

That won’t surprise Brock Wagner, founder of Saint Arnold Brewing Co. He recalled that when the Houston brewery made its first batch of Christmas Ale in 1995, there was some question about whether it could sell all 25 barrels. The beer, enough for about 50 kegs, was gone in a week and a half.